DOE gets ‘F’ in special ed services

The New York City Department of Education (DOE) won’t be bringing home a strong report card this year - though, if you ask them, they weren’t fairly graded.
DOE has released a 10-page statement challenging the findings of a recent audit administered by the office of New York City Comptroller William Thompson. The audit labeled DOE “ineffective” in tracking, monitoring and providing services for special needs students based on records from 2004-05.
The procedure was conducted by examining records from a random sample of 89 special needs students throughout New York City, including students from Queens Public Schools 65 and 124. Auditors checked attendance records, as well as records proving each student received the provisions he or she was supposed to receive.
In terms of attendance, auditors were only able to locate 44 percent of all records. Regarding provisions, DOE was unable to provide a majority of records demonstrating that students received the care they needed.
That doesn’t necessarily mean students were absent or that their special needs provisions were not given to them, only that DOE did not adequately record it, explained Deputy Comptroller John Graham. Still, without complete records, he said, “neither [the Comptroller] nor DOE can verify that services were provided.”
“These records were in such atrocious shape that we couldn’t tell if it was intentional or just sloppiness,” said Graham.
DOE, however, says the Comptroller’s methodology was “marred by serious errors and misunderstandings.” For instance, said DOE spokesperson Lindsey Harr, auditors failed to conduct a complete search of attendance records.
“Special education attendance is tracked in two different ways,” said Harr. She explained that some types of special-ed students are included in the mainstream school system (‘self-contained’), while others, enrolled in ‘Related Services,’ are kept separate from the general student body. Attendance records for the two categories are kept separately from one another. Auditors, said Harr, sought records for both types of students, but searched only Related Services files.
In addition, said Harr, auditors searched for attendance records in September and October of 2004 for classes or programs that did not begin until November.
“DOE conducted its own search after the audit,” said Harr. “We found 83 percent of records. That’s not quite 100 percent, which, of course, is our goal, but it’s a far cry from 44 [percent].”
The Comptroller also found that when service providers were absent, DOE offered no make-up sessions. Citing one instance in which a speech therapist was absent for 90 days, Graham said children “were not getting service.”
P.S. 124, located at 129-15 150th Avenue in Jamaica, enrolled 1,064 students this past school year, 66 of which were part of special-ed programs. Calls to the school, its parent coordinator, and Community Superintendent Michelle Lloyd-Bey were not immediately returned.
P.S. 65, at 103-22 99th Street in Ozone Park, enrolled 536 students, 62 of which required special education. Principal Beth Longo did not want to comment extensively on the matter, but said the school followed DOE protocol in recording the provisions and attendance of its special needs students.
The Comptroller’s office was unable to provide specifics on how many of the students sampled were from the two Queens public schools and whether their records were found.
Officially, DOE disputed six of nine recommendations laid out by the Comptroller, and noted that the audit was “two years old, and shed light on problems we are aware of and are already working on,” said Harr.
In addition, she said, “we’re talking about 89 students in a region where there are 19,000 students. For the Comptroller to draw the conclusion that we’re in complete disarray is ridiculous.”
But, said Graham, “the audit speaks for itself. These children have been determined to need service. The fact is DOE cannot demonstrate that they’re providing it.”
To read the complete audit and the Comptroller’s recommendations, visit www.comptroller.nyc.gov.